He examined the silk thread for a moment, and a faint layer of red light emerged.
Snow Silk: Silk spun by the spiritual insect Snow Silkworm, exceptionally tough.
It resisted water and fire, and blades and swords could hardly damage it. It seemed to be quite a fine treasure.
The primary material for making Snow Silk Clothing.
When Lu Qing used his Supernatural Ability to inspect the information on the thread Old Doctor Chen had given him, a look of surprise could not help appearing on his face.
This mysterious thread was actually a Red-Light Grade item.
After awakening his Supernatural Ability for so long, Lu Qing had already learned that, under its inspection, the light emitted by an item often represented how precious it was.
So far, he had discovered three kinds of light from items: gray, white, and red.
Among them, he had previously seen red light only on Old Doctor Chen.
And the information revealed by his ability showed that the old doctor was a cultivator who hid his true depths well.
Now, he had unexpectedly discovered another red-light item.
And this item had likewise been given to him by the old doctor.
"I never thought this would actually be a red-light treasure."
Lu Qing had known that this thread was no ordinary item, but he had not expected it to be precious to such an extent.
If even his Supernatural Ability deemed it a treasure, it had to be extraordinary.
Just look at how the information described it.
It resisted water and fire, and blades and swords could hardly harm it!
What kind of thread could possess such properties? If this was not a treasure, then what was?
"I wonder whether Old Doctor Chen knows that this thread is so miraculous."
Lu Qing's feelings were somewhat complicated.
In only a few short days, Xiao Yan and he had received so much kindness from Old Doctor Chen.
And now, he had even given Lu Qing such precious silk thread.
It truly left him both moved and ashamed.
After all, Lu Qing knew that his purpose in approaching Old Doctor Chen had not been entirely pure.
"It seems I can only seriously catch some good things and give them to Grandpa Chen."
Lu Qing dearly wished to repay Old Doctor Chen's kindness.
But his home was truly so poor that even the walls seemed to rattle, and he could not produce a single decent item.
Moreover, given the old doctor's discernment, ordinary things of money and wealth might not necessarily catch his eye.
After all, he had casually given away a treasure like Snow Silk.
The only thing Lu Qing could do was start with the old doctor's hobby.
From what the old doctor had said before, he seemed to be quite fond of fish.
As it happened, fishing was what Lu Qing excelled at most.
"It seems you are fated to become my fishing line."
Lu Qing picked up the small bundle of Snow Silk, immediately feeling its soft, icy coolness.
The thickness of the thread was about the same as the river-fishing lines he had used in his previous life. He had no idea what kind of miraculous creature the Snow Silkworm was, to be able to spin silk this thick.
The bundle of Snow Silk did not look like much, but after inspecting it carefully, Lu Qing found that if it were fully unwound, it was probably over a hundred meters long.
Making fishing line clearly would not require so much silk.
Lu Qing took a woodcutting knife from the kitchen, intending to cut off a section of silk to make fishing line.
Yet when he laid the silk on a block of wood and brought the knife down, the silk sank deep into the wood along with the blade without suffering the slightest damage.
Only then did Lu Qing recall his ability's description of the silk.
It resisted water and fire, and blades and swords could hardly cut it.
At first, he had thought that might simply be a figure of speech, meant to describe the silk's toughness.
He had not expected it to be the literal truth.
At the very least, with the not particularly sharp woodcutting knife at home, it would not be easy to cut through this Snow Silk.
This time, Lu Qing was no longer in a hurry.
To verify whether the Snow Silk truly resisted water and fire, he found a fire starter in the kitchen, lit it, and held a short section of the silk over the flame.
In the end, the Snow Silk really did not snap right away. It held on for a full five minutes before finally burning through.
"So it only resists water and fire—it is not completely impervious to them."
Lu Qing looked thoughtfully at the short piece of silk that had fallen to the ground.
Of course, lasting five whole minutes over a flame was already impressive enough.
After all, this was silk, not iron wire.
Still, the fact that Snow Silk could be burned through was good news for Lu Qing.
If even fire could do nothing to it, then with so much silk that could not be cut, he would have to make it into a casting rod.
But making a casting rod was far more complicated than making a hand rod.
Furthermore, when he had made casting rods in his previous life, he had directly bought many of the components. He had never tried making every single part from scratch.
Under his present conditions, it was not very realistic for him to make a practical casting rod.
Fortunately, Snow Silk could now be cut with fire, saving him a great deal of trouble.
Next, Lu Qing threw himself wholeheartedly into making the fishing rod.
The first step was selecting the bamboo pole.
With his woodcutting knife in hand, Lu Qing spent an entire day in the bamboo grove behind the village before selecting several small, old bamboo stalks and cutting them down to bring home.
Once the bamboo poles had been selected, they needed to be trimmed and roasted, treated to prevent insects, and so on.
All of that also required a great deal of time.
But Lu Qing could not wait that long, so he selected one old bamboo stalk, roasted it briefly, and directly used it to make a fishing rod.
He kept the remaining bamboo stalks aside to roast with greater care later.
Once the bamboo pole was chosen, the rest was simple.
Without much effort, Lu Qing finished making the new fishing rod.
"Ta-da! Xiao Yan, look! How is your brother's new fishing rod? Is it pretty?"
That morning, Lu Qing rested his newly made fishing rod on his shoulder and asked Xiao Yan.
"It's pretty!"
The obedient and adorable Xiao Yan immediately turned into his biggest supporter, nodding vigorously again and again.
"I think it's pretty too!"
Lu Qing flicked the fishing rod with a smug look on his face.
Although he had made it in a hurry this time, the quality of this new fishing rod was not bad at all.
That was because, in Lu Qing's eyes, the new rod was currently emitting a dense white light.
Snow Silk Fishing Rod: A fishing rod made using Snow Silk as its fishing line.
The line was tough and the rod body sturdy. It could withstand a pull of a hundred jin without breaking. With this fishing rod, perhaps one could catch a big fish.
When Lu Qing first saw these two lines of information, he had been startled.
The new fishing rod he had made could actually withstand a pulling force of more than a hundred jin.
Snow Silk was a treasure, so while it was impressive that it could bear the strength of a hundred jin, it was still understandable.
But the old bamboo that grew freely on the back mountain behind the village was also so tough. That truly exceeded his expectations.
All he could say was that this was indeed the Otherworld. Not only could it produce strange treasures like Snow Silk, even the bamboo that grew here was so outstanding.
If the old fishing buddies from his previous life learned of it, their eyes would probably glow green with envy.
"Brother, now that the fishing rod is done, are we going fishing?" Xiao Yan asked.
"We're going. Of course we're going!"
With the new fishing rod in hand, Lu Qing looked full of bold spirit.
Besides, he had spent two whole days making this fishing rod.
The fish at home had nearly all been eaten during those two days.
More importantly, in another day, it would be time for his appointment with Old Doctor Chen for acupuncture.
This time, he could not go to the old doctor's home empty-handed again.
"Yay! We can go fishing again!" Xiao Yan immediately grew happy upon hearing that. "Brother, I'll go help you dig up earthworms."
As she spoke, she ran outside.
Lu Qing shook his head.
For some reason, ordinary children, especially little girls, were more or less afraid of things like earthworms and bugs.
Yet Xiao Yan was not afraid in the slightest. Instead, she even wanted to help him catch earthworms, and her courage was greater than that of ordinary little girls by who knew how much.
"I wonder if Xiao Yan will grow up to be the lady I hope she will be. She won't turn into a tomboy, will she?" A trace of inexplicable worry suddenly flashed through Lu Qing's heart.
Although there was nothing bad about being a tomboy, if possible, he still hoped his little sister would grow into a gentle and virtuous young woman.
Shaking his head, he tossed this matter, which was still far in the future, out of his mind. Then Lu Qing took his fishing rod and headed outside.
By the time he reached the courtyard, Xiao Yan was already waiting for him with the bamboo tube for holding earthworms.
"Brother, hurry up!" Xiao Yan urged.
"I'm coming, I'm coming."
Lu Qing picked up the shovel outside the house and walked over.
After digging up the earthworms, Lu Qing took out a small cloth pouch from the house and tucked it into his pocket.
"Brother, what is this?" the little girl asked curiously.
"This is a secret weapon. Whether we can catch a big fish today depends entirely on it," Lu Qing said mysteriously.
"A big fish!" The little girl's eyes immediately lit up.
She did not know how big the big fish Lu Qing spoke of would be, but it sounded very impressive!
After putting away the secret weapon, Lu Qing found the wooden bucket they had used to hold fish a few days ago. Then he picked up his new fishing rod and pointed ahead.
"Let's go. We're setting off!"
"Setting off!" the little girl cried in her sweet voice.
Before long, the brother and sister arrived at the entrance of the village.
The little girl hugged the bamboo tube containing earthworms and skipped along ahead of him.
Her mouth kept chanting, "Big fish, big fish..."
Some villagers passing by could not help laughing when they saw her like that.
"Xiao Yan, where are you going with your brother?"
"It's Uncle Zhao! I'm going to the river with Brother to fish, to catch a big fish!" the little girl answered politely.
"Oh, a big fish? How do you know you'll be able to catch a big fish?" Uncle Zhao teased her.
"Of course I know, because Brother said so. Brother is the best at fishing!" The little girl looked proud.
"Haha, yes, yes, your brother is the best."
Seeing her proud little expression, Uncle Zhao became even more amused and went along with her.
"Children's words carry no taboo, Uncle Zhao. Please do not mind her," Lu Qing said apologetically.
"It's fine, it's fine. Xiao Yan is adorable like this. When you were sick a few days ago, though, the way she cried truly made one's heart ache," Uncle Zhao said cheerfully.
"But while you're fishing, make sure to keep a close eye on Xiao Yan. Don't let her play in the water."
"I understand," Lu Qing replied seriously.
"Xiao Yan, did you hear that? Listen to your brother. When you get to the riverbank, do not secretly go play in the water," Uncle Zhao reminded Xiao Yan again.
"I know." The little girl answered obediently, "I'm very good."
"That's right, Xiao Yan is the most well-behaved."
Uncle Zhao rubbed her hair, his tone carrying a hint of wistfulness.
After bidding Uncle Zhao farewell, the brother and sister continued toward the river.
Yet when they reached the riverbank, both of them were dumbfounded.
They discovered that the spot where Lu Qing had fished last time had long since been taken.
And it was not occupied by just one or two people, but seven or eight people crowded into that small area.
What was more, the brother and sister knew all of them. They were villagers from the village.
"Lu Qing, you came fishing too? Why not come over and squeeze in with us?" one of the villagers called out upon seeing Lu Qing and Xiao Yan.
"Mm, we've eaten all the fish at home, so I came to catch some more," Lu Qing said with a smile.
Then he asked curiously, "Why are you all crowded together fishing? Aren't you afraid your lines will get tangled up by accident?"
"Don't even mention it. We don't want to either." The villager wore a bitter expression. "It's too hard to catch fish anywhere else. You wait half the day and only catch one. Only this spot makes it easier to get bites. Oh, right, Hu Zi and the others said this was the spot where you fished last time?"
Because it was easy to catch fish, you all crowded together here?
Lu Qing was somewhat speechless.
Still, he nodded. "That's right. I fished here last time."
"Then you really are impressive!" The villager gave him a thumbs-up. "You picked a good spot at one go. Over the last two days, we've caught the most fish here. It's just that we don't know what happened today—the fish have started biting less."
Of course they were not biting!
With so many of you crowded into one spot fishing, no matter how many fish there were, they would all be caught clean.
Even if they were not all caught, the ones left would probably have become birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring.
Lu Qing shook his head.
This fishing spot was probably ruined.
At the very least, it would be hard for it to return to how it had been for a long time.
"You all keep fishing. I'll go try my luck somewhere else."
After being speechless for a while, Lu Qing took Xiao Yan's hand and walked off in another direction.
The villagers did not try to keep them. On the contrary, they breathed a sigh of relief.
It was already crowded enough here. If one more person came, there really would not be any room left.
As for Lu Qing saying he would try his luck elsewhere, they did not pay it any mind.
It was not as though they had not fished other stretches of the river these past few days, but their results had all been poor.
After fishing here and there, they had found that this spot was still the easiest place to catch fish.
Otherwise, so many of them would not have crowded together here.
After leaving the little fish fishing spot, Lu Qing led Xiao Yan onward.
Though the villagers' actions left him speechless, there was nothing he could say about it.
After all, the river belonged to everyone, and anyone had the right to fish here.
It was not as if a spot became someone's just because they had caught fish there.
Therefore, Lu Qing did not think much of the villagers occupying the little fish fishing spot.
In any case, he had his Supernatural Ability. If a fishing spot was taken, he could simply find another one.
The river was so long, and who knew how many fishing spots it held? Why would he fear having nowhere to fish?
With that in mind, Lu Qing continued walking forward with Xiao Yan.
He did not even check the other two fishing spots he had discovered last time.
Those two fishing spots were likewise within the other villagers' sight.
What if he caught fish later and everyone swarmed over like a nest of bees to mooch off his fishing spot? What would he do then?
So he might as well go farther away and fish somewhere no one could see, avoiding unnecessary trouble.
In any case, he had come well prepared this time. Not only had he brought a fishing rod and bucket, but he had also brought the wood-chopping knife from home, allowing him to open up a fishing spot whenever he wished.
Lu Qing led Xiao Yan slowly along the riverbank, using his Supernatural Ability to search the river's surface the entire time.
All of a sudden, his eyes lit up.
Before you continue